The Brazilian full-back worked with Benitez at Valencia before they both moved to Anfield. Now he hopes Benitez can conjure up another tactical masterclass to compare with the 1-0 win at Real Madrid a fortnight ago which put Liverpool on the brink of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.

Aurelio said: "Rafa has the knack of winning these games. I have worked with him here and in Valencia and he knows a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of any team.

"He will have been planning for this game for many days, so that when we arrive for the match we will know exactly what our jobs will be.

"And we will know how we can hurt the opposition. He is one of the best managers around in this competition.

"He has got to the final twice, and seems always to be in the last stages. That shows how good he is at planning for such big games."

Liverpool face Premier League leaders Manchester United on Saturday, and Aurelio said: "The next two games will dictate Liverpool's future in the rest of this campaign. We have been working for this kind of challenge, this is a big club and we should be in this situation.

"We believe we can get to the quarter-finals and we also feel we can get ourselves back into the race for the Premier League.

"These next three games are very important for us, and it is crucial that we get off to the best possible start against Real.

"If we do that it will give us a lot more confidence to face Manchester United, and then Aston Villa a week later, in the Premier League.

"And we all want to be involved in the Champions League final again, we all believe it will be possible."

He added: "The win in the Bernabeu has given us confidence, but we will have to do even better than we did in Madrid if we are to get through to the next round.

"Winning 1-0 was a very good result, but Real will be a difficult side to play against in this situation.

"I do not believe Real will go at us right from the start, they will wait to see how we play. It is a very close game now, they will want to score but they will know that if they leave space then we can hurt them on the break.

"We will both be trying to second guess what each of us will do, it will be very tight."